George & Woodward H. Griswold Preserve

Day staff

Directions: From I-95, take Exit 70. Entrance to trail is off Boston Post Road (Route 1), across from intersection with Stoneleigh Knoll.

Where to Park: Parking lot can accommodate about 4 cars right by the trail entrances.

Description: There are multiple entrances to the 51-acre preserve. Trails lead to the Lower Mill Pond Fish Ladder. The yellow trail is narrow and bumpy. The red trail is wide and flat. The shortest loop takes about 20 minutes. Car traffic is audible.

Regulations: Carry out what you carry in. No ATVs. All dogs and pets must be under your control at all times. No trespassing onto adjacent land. No camping, building fires, marking trees or collecting plants or minerals.

Amenities: None.

Natural Features: Yellow trail leads to the Lower Mill Pond and Mill Lane Brook. In spring herring, salmon and eels migrate from Long Island Sound into the brook, then up fish and eel ladders into the pond to spawn.

Fees: Free.

Good to know: The state DEP monitors the fish ladder, which was built in 1998. A former mill near the fish ladder has been converted into a residence.

The yellow trail leads to the Lower Mill Pond and provides a great view of the houses across the water.Jenna Cho/The Day

Griswold PreserveJenna Cho/The Day

The Mary Griswold Steube Fishway enables the migration of herring, salmon and eels from Long Island Sound into the pond to spawn. Steube donated it to the Old Lyme Conservation Trust in 1999 in memory of her uncle and father.Jenna Cho/The Day